Doha, Qatar: Title-favourite Magnus Carlsen yesterday was held by M Pranesh while American Hikaru Nakamura regained his winning momentum in the fourth round of the Qatar Masters Open 2023 in Lusail, yesterday.
Five-time world champion Carlsen was denied the opportunity to rise in the standings after he was held by India’s 16-year-old in a complex contest at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall. One of India’s finest young talents, Pranesh was handed a difficult challenge by Carlsen early into the game, but the Chennai-based 44th-ranked teen was able to fight back to draw after 53 moves of play.
The draw following his shock loss to Kazakh Alishar Suleymenov on Thursday, left the World No.1 Norwegian with just two wins from four games as he was pushed further down to 29th position in the overall standings.
On the other hand, Carlsen’s chief rival, Nakamura, ranked second in the tournament, defeated Dutchman Robby Kevlishvili, ranked 43rd, elevating his score to 3.5 points. That lifted the 35-year-old Grandmaster to the top of the points table and placed the World No.3 among six others who scored the same number of points, a day after he was held in a draw by Uzbek Shamsiddin Vokhidov.
Meanwhile, Dutchman Anish Giri, ranked seventh globally and third in the tournament, settled for a draw against Uzbek rival Shamsiddin Vokhidov, ranked 28th in the tournament.
Following the disappointment, Giri did not hide the difficulty of staying in contention for the championship title.
“I tried hard to recover from the tie during the last round, but the competitor performed well and I believe that the tournament will witness many changes during the coming rounds,” the 29-year-old said.
Giri, who became a Grandmaster at the age of 14, said: “I am seeking to obtain the championship title, and there are 5 rounds left until the end, and I believe that I will face extreme difficulties during the upcoming matches.”
“The tournament attracts great media attention and includes an elite group of the most prominent players, and I hope that I will be lucky in the end,” Giri said.
Sixth ranked Indian Arjun Erigaisi, who held the lead until yesterday, experienced his first stumble after three consecutive victories, drawing against compatriot S L Narayanan. Meanwhile, another Indian, Dommaraju Gukesh, seeded fourth, claimed a crucial victory against Turkish player Mert Yilmazyerli.
In other highlights of the day, Indian Grandmaster Sandipan Chanda lost to Kazakh teenager Alua Nurmanova while her compatriot Suleymenov was beaten by Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran.
Qatar’s Hussein Aziz secured drew with China’s Yuxin Song to take his total to 2.5 points. Aziz had beaten India’s Aayush Bhattacherjee in the third round on Friday.
The Qatar Masters Open, featuring a stellar lineup which includes 62 Grandmasters, offers a total prize pool of $120,000 and will continue until October 20.
